Chronic Disease News and Research

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Severely restricting calories leads to a longer life

New research now has shown for the first time that such a diet also can maintain physical fitness into advanced age, slowing the seemingly inevitable progression to physical disability and loss of independence.

24 Oct 2007

Severely restricting calories leads to a longer life

22 Oct 2007

Self-management education for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Self-management education programs for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) significantly decrease hospital admissions, researchers report in a new systematic review of studies.

17 Oct 2007

Quick new method nails adenoviruses in 48 hours

New techniques have enabled scientists to carry one of the most comprehensive studies of adenoviruses ever performed in the United States.

15 Oct 2007

New rapid and accurate method to identify adenoviruses

Grantees of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have adapted a rapid and accurate new molecular typing strategy and used it to conduct one of the most comprehensive studies of adenoviruses ever performed in the United States.

12 Oct 2007

Discovery of protein that plays a key role in the recycling of iron from blood

Scientists working in the only lab at MIT doing hematology research have uncovered a protein that plays a key role in the recycling of iron from blood. Their work, described in the October 11 Journal of Clinical Investigation, could lead to new therapies for certain inherited blood disorders such as beta-thalassemia, a condition that causes chronic anemia.

12 Oct 2007

Medicaid managed care enrollees appear to receive lower-quality

The proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries in managed care increased from 23 percent to more than 60 percent during the same time period,” the authors write. There is limited information in peer-reviewed literature on the quality of care delivered within health plans to Medicaid enrollees.

10 Oct 2007

Under HMOs, Medicaid patients fare worse than commercial HMO patients

Once viewed as a panacea to the nation's health care problems, HMOs have fallen out of favor.

10 Oct 2007

Link between woman's hips and daughter's risk of breast cancer

In a study of the maternity records of more than 6,000 women, David J.P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., of Oregon Health & Science University discovered a strong correlation between the size and shape of a woman's hips and her daughter's risk of breast cancer.

9 Oct 2007

Disabled people smoke the most

Smoking prevalence among people with disabilities is nearly 50 percent higher than among people without disabilities (29.9 percent vs. 19.8 percent), according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Preventing Chronic Disease.

4 Oct 2007

Promising trial results show biologic therapy ustekinumab significantly improved psoriasis

The first reported findings from an international, Phase 3 study showed that more than two-thirds of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving two doses of ustekinumab (CNTO 1275) achieved at least a 75 percent reduction in psoriasis at week 12, the primary endpoint of the study, as measured by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75).

4 Oct 2007

Common chronic diseases cost U.S. economy $1 trillion

In a groundbreaking study released y by the Milken Institute, the annual economic impact on the U.S. economy of the most common chronic diseases is calculated to be more than $1 trillion, which could balloon to nearly $6 trillion by the middle of the century.

3 Oct 2007

Medicare part B premiums to increase by 3.1% in 2008 to $96.40 per month

CMS on Monday announced that the standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B, which covers physician visits and outpatient hospital care, will increase by $2.90, or 3.1%, to $96.40 in 2008 -- the smallest increase since 2000, when the premium remained the same, the New York Times reports.

2 Oct 2007

Best weight-loss plans for heart health

Over the past three decades, the rising obesity epidemic has been accompanied by a proliferation of weight-loss plans. However, as a new study by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) reveals, these weight-loss plans vary significantly in their ability to positively affect heart health.

1 Oct 2007

Many patients with diabetes say burden of care rivals complications of disease

Many patients with diabetes say that the inconvenience and discomfort of constant therapeutic vigilance, particularly multiple daily insulin injections, has as much impact on their quality of life as the burden of intermediate complications, researchers from the University of Chicago report in the October 2007 issue of Diabetes Care.

27 Sep 2007

New research on glycemic index

In work investigating the reproducibility of glycemic index values, researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA) have reported that multiple glycemic index value determinations (measure of the rate of glucose absorption into the bloodstream) using a simple test food, white bread, resulted in a relatively high level of inter-individual (among different individuals), and intra-individual (within the same individual) variability.

27 Sep 2007

Breath-analysis testing offers potential for blood sugar monitoring in diabetes

Breath-analysis testing may prove to be an effective, non-invasive method for monitoring blood sugar levels in diabetes, according to a University of California, Irvine study.

25 Sep 2007

Public opinion about Alzheimer's disease among Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites

Alzheimer's disease is still a mystery to people of different races and a large percentage of people across the board are unaware that treatments are available to reduce symptoms.

18 Sep 2007

Women generally unaware of landmark hormone therapy study

Despite the huge publicity generated by a 2002 study on the potential dangers of hormone therapy for postmenopausal women, new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine found that only 29 percent of women surveyed knew about the study two years later.

18 Sep 2007

Eating competence may lower risk of heart disease

People who are confident, comfortable and flexible with their eating habits may be at a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than people who are not.

18 Sep 2007